PET Scan - (Journal Date: 3/3/05)

5/22/2005

A PET Scan (Positron Emission Tomography) is a way of making 3D images that show how the body works. A radioactive drug (FDG) is injected in the arm of the patient and it goes to places where glucose is used for energy. The patient is then placed in a PET Scanner. This device consists of thousands of radiation detectors that measure the radiation that is being emitted by the radioactive drug (FDG) in the patient. These images show the areas of the body that are actively burning glucose for energy. Since cancer is relatively fast growing, compared with other normal cells, this technology can be used to locate a disease or to better understand how widespread it is. The procedure is similar to a CT Scan, but it takes a little longer to allow for the radioisotopes to make their way around the body through the blood stream.